the last soldier fled in 2010 .
image copyright ap image caption defections across the north - south land border are rare a north korean soldier has defected to the south across the two countries ' heavily armed border , south korean officials have said .
in what is apparently the first such incident in nearly two - and - half years , a north korean soldier has defected across the heavily armed land border with the south .
officials say south korean troops at the border heard gunshots , confirmed the north korean soldier 's desire to defect , and escorted him to a guard post .
the soldier said he shot dead two officers before crossing over just after noon ( 03:00 gmt ) on saturday .
the incident occurred at noon saturday along the western section of the dmz .
there has been no confirmation of the north korean casualties and no unusual activity observed on the north korean side of the border .
the bbc 's lucy williamson in seoul says that about a million soldiers and a million land mines line the demilitarised zone , and only a handful of people have crossed from north to south by land in the past few years .
defections by north koreans along the dmz are rare .